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The Mirage of Islamic Solidarity

Elections are nearing around all Muslim countries. And now is the appropriate time for Muslim leaders to win the popular vote of the invaluable Muslim constituents in their countries by engaging in fiery rhetoric against the kuffar and zalimun.

And like always Erdogan is at the forefront. This time he has taken it up a notch(by his standards) by directly engaging in a war of words on twitter against Netanyahu. [1]

He has once again called for an emergency OIC and called upon the Muslim leaders to support the Palestinians. [2]

In the final communique issued by the leaders, they have called for a formation of an “International Protection Force” and the statement goes further by “angrily lashed out at the United States, saying that Washington was complicit in the actions of Israel against the Palestinians. It denounced the savage crimes committed by the Israeli forces with the backing of the US administration”. [3]

While it will please the Muslims who never read past the headlines, any analyst worth his salt can see that these condemnations are nothing more than token gestures. We should not expect the proposed “International Protection Force” to be formed anytime soon.

Why?

To begin with, no military attache was present at the OIC. Not that I know of.

The proposed International Protection Force will have to act beyond the jurisdiction of the UN because the US has made it quite clear through its ambassador at the UN that they are fully backing Israel, in case the continued patronage of Israel by the White House has not made it obvious enough for everyone.

And acting without the UN(and the US by extension) jurisdiction will incur significant diplomatic, economic and military backlash. To counter this we will require a proper strategic estimate which cannot be done without the consulting the veteran military leaders.

And speaking of the economy, there has been zero talks of any boycott or sanctions against the United States. Therefore these token condemnations of the US are as effective as the “roasting” of the politicians and leaders by the comedians in America.

Why?

Because every single Muslim leader and their respective nation is, in one way or another, dependent upon the United States. Their trade is done in US dollars and conducted in the institutions and trade routes overseen by the United States and its allies. And in these “emergency OIC summits” no mention has been made about creating an alternate matrix where Muslim countries can operate without US jurisdiction.

Forget the United States. The most vocal critic, the so-called Hero and Mujaddid of this Ummah, Erdogan, cannot seem to break ties with Israel.

Beyond token condemnations, trade between Israel and Turkey has flourished and will continue to flourish. [4] [5]

Erdogan’s own son-in-law was reported to be working on securing a direct gas-pipeline between Israel and Turkey.[6]

In between all the threats and war of words, the economic ties between Israel and Turkey were never in any real danger of being severed. Indeed, just last Tuesday Erdogan’s AKP party struck down a call in parliament by the mostly Kurdish HDP to cancel all economic, military, and political agreements with Israel. [7] [8]

Defenders of Erdogan will argue that Erdogan is struggling against the secular Kemalists to hold on to power, but the fact of the matter is Erdogan’s AKP has not only aligned with the openly secular MHP party, they have also been leading the charge in cracking down on Islamic activists and dissidents, accusing them of colluding with Gulenists or even being Gulenists. The most recent victims being Alparslan Kuytul and his Furkan movement. [9][10[11][12]

That should tell us enough about Erdogan’s prioritization of empowering his Islamic constituents.

And that should be enough for all of us to realize that these OIC summits are nothing but lip service to the Muslims in Palestine. Every single one of these so-called Islamic leaders is dealing with the devil under the table. Within their own borders and beyond it.

While Erdogan’s fiery speech may make some people feel good, it really does nothing for us. More so when he continues to establish ties with Israel.

The reality of the matter is Erdogan is not the defender of the Ummah. But an agent of our oppressors, whether through his continued inaction or through the ties he continues to maintain with Israel and its patrons.

If we are really concerned about the Ummah at large, we should be looking for leaders who go beyond those token gestures and hollow rhetoric. We should be looking for leaders who base their politics on the Quran and Sunnah. We should be looking for leaders who look out for the interests of the Ummah before the interests of their nation. We should be looking for leaders who can back up their words through actions.

As long as we settle for having leaders like Erdogan, we cannot do anything to stop the Israelis.

The Ummah has to collectively demand and work towards its emancipation from the agents of its oppressors. If there is no leader who can serve our interests then we must work towards grooming leaders who can.

May Allah protect us all and give us the strength to overcome our oppressors.

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Ibn Mosharraf

Ibn Mosharraf is an aspiring political theorist and historian. He has been observing and studying the world affairs since 2011.
His area of interests covers the Historical, Geopolitical and Sociopolitical narratives and how these overarching issues affect the Muslim Communities across the globe.